St. Thomas Champagne Catamaran Sail/Snorkel

[raesive]

Has anyone done this excursion recently? I found some reviews from 2009, but nothing newer. Mostly wondering how much time is actually spent on the boat, since it sounds like it's a bit of a drive to the marina it leaves from. Do they overload the capacity of people?

[Saphire]

I would also like know, as we have booked this excursion on our upcoming cruise. Thanks.

[Overhead Fred]

While we have not tried it, we know a few folks who have. They gave it good reviews. 

[CruiserBruce]

I am sure they don't overload the sailing vessel, and risk losing the good business.

 

We have done a couple of these in years past. Never over capacity. 

[bbw187]

Just took this excursion this past week. Do it! Awesome crew and well worth it. Honeymoon Beach is spectacular on St John. Be prepared to get wet so bathing suit is required. 

[raesive]

Glad to hear that people are liking it.  bbw187, how long was the drive to get to where the boat leaves from?

[bbw187]

19 hours ago, raesive said:

Glad to hear that people are liking it.  bbw187, how long was the drive to get to where the boat leaves from?

It was about a 25 minute ride via open air bus to the small marina.  Definitely did not leave from Red Hook landing.  Hope this information is helpful.  Note:  when you arrive at Honeymoon beach, you can either jump in and swim/snorkel or ride their small motorized dingy to the beach.  Either way, you're getting wet.  Don't forget to bring your beach towel from your room with you.

[OCruisers]

Very enjoyable way to spend the day on your port stop in St. Thomas.  

[Saphire]

Thank you for the info and great pictures, bbw187. When you stopped to swim and snorkel, did they require life vests? I like to swim free and really dislike the vests so I am hoping there is no requirement. Thanks again.

[djg541]

Did this a few times over the years.

Drive to the marina is about 1/2 hr on an open sided van.

Boats are well appointed,clean,and crews were good in our experiences.

The swim site can get crowded as other boats use the same location,but never to the point of being a problem.

Have fun!

[JRG]

In our experience, these high volume passenger catamarans may operate at capacity, but you are still elbow to elbow with other passengers and that sucks.

 

You may also be subject to eat whatever the on-board chefs have prepared for your culinary pleasure, and that is not necessarily a good thing, especially if you've gotten used to eating lido buffet, suite or specialty meals 24/7.

 

Spend a few extra green stamps and charter one of the classier 12- passenger small real cats and you'll never sail on one of these champagne ferries again.

Edited February 25, 2019 by JRG

[Micmac]

I did this in Dec (2018) and also Dec 2016 (leaving from St. John so more sightseeing).  This Dec there were enough people that they actually split us into 2 groups and went on 2 catamarans.  They were careful to ensure that all people wishing to be together were on the same catamaran.

 

I had a similar experience both times.  They do make you wear a life vest to snorkel but it is one that is very thin so it doesn't interfere too much.

 

It was about a 25 minute drive to the marina and maybe 30 minutes or so to St. John.  As said in another post - you could either swim, take a dinghy to the shore or just choose to stay on board.  There were sodas, juice, rum punch and champagne flowing on the return to St. Thomas as well as light snacks including veggies and cheese.  

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, Saphire said:

Thank you for the info and great pictures, bbw187. When you stopped to swim and snorkel, did they require life vests? I like to swim free and really dislike the vests so I am hoping there is no requirement. Thanks again.

 

The insurance companies require the vest. They are typically ones than can be inflated as much as you need, so you could just not inflate yours.

[raesive]

Well we booked for our April cruise. Hope it's great! 🙂

[Walfam]

Hubby did this excursion last year.  No mention of the number of people on the catamaran.  All he had to comment on was that some of the spring break crowd were over-served with champagne, one guy fell off the catamaran as they were returning to dock, and another was vomiting over the side of the boat.  Or maybe that was the same guy.  

[OCruisers]

9 minutes ago, Walfam said:

Hubby did this excursion last year.  No mention of the number of people on the catamaran.  All he had to comment on was that some of the spring break crowd were over-served with champagne, one guy fell off the catamaran as they were returning to dock, and another was vomiting over the side of the boat.  Or maybe that was the same guy.  

 

Gosh ... was this excursion on a HAL cruise?  Since it's posted on the HAL board ... just wondering since HAL seldom attracts the spring break crowd. 

 

[Walfam]

1 minute ago, OCruisers said:

 

Gosh ... was this excursion on a HAL cruise?  Since it's posted on the HAL board ... just wondering since HAL seldom attracts the spring break crowd. 

 

Yes, it was.  7-day eastern Caribbean cruise in March 2018 on the NA and booked thru HAL EXC.  Spring break season, so it goes with the territory, I guess. 

[OCruisers]

2 minutes ago, Walfam said:

Yes, it was.  7-day eastern Caribbean cruise in March 2018 on the NA and booked thru HAL EXC.  Spring break season, so it goes with the territory, I guess. 

 

Seems so.  

 

[Jennifire7]

On 2/25/2019 at 5:43 PM, JRG said:

In our experience, these high volume passenger catamarans may operate at capacity, but you are still elbow to elbow with other passengers and that sucks.

 

You may also be subject to eat whatever the on-board chefs have prepared for your culinary pleasure, and that is not necessarily a good thing, especially if you've gotten used to eating lido buffet, suite or specialty meals 24/7.

 

Spend a few extra green stamps and charter one of the classier 12- passenger small real cats and you'll never sail on one of these champagne ferries again.

We just returned from St Thomas and chartered a catamaran.  Hands down the best money I have ever spend on an excursion.

[hubbard53]

we did this last summer on a disney cruise - it was awesome and not crowded at all. We booked it again for our HAL cruise next week

[kazu]

12 hours ago, Jennifire7 said:

We just returned from St Thomas and chartered a catamaran.  Hands down the best money I have ever spend on an excursion.

 

 

Totally agree with this.

 

We chartered on for St Lucia for a small group of us on our roll call.  It was fabulous.  We saw the HAL group go by and they were pretty packed.  

I do it again in a heartbeat.  We had fabulous food and drinks and a great time.

 

 

[SeagoingMom]

Our experience on this excursion (not so recent as some) was great!  Since the distance required to drive to the marina and the time to sail to St. John has not changed since we were on the same excursion, I think I can assure you that you will have plenty of time in the water. Yes, the drive across the island is a little long, but you get a good feel for the place. The sail to St. John is beautiful.  We were in the water long enough for me to start feeling chilly (in March) -- at least 45 minutes -- which is pretty normal for the many snorkel excursions I've been on. The area where you will snorkel is plenty big to accommodate everybody -- you can easily get away from others if you want to. If you have folks who drink too much on the way back, well, it happens...I, myself, have never seen a passenger go overboard or anyone lose their stomach contents on any snorkel excursion "after party"  in 13 years of excursions, even in choppy waters or on outings sponsored by the "fun ships."

[hubbard53]

just off the NS and had the pleasure to take this excursion again - once again, it was awesome! I felt like we had a little less time in the water but it was a blast! We had the exact same crew we had in October on Disney and they make the trip with their knowledge of the area, control of the vessel, and drink servers / entertainers on the return trip. 

[raesive]

We did go on this last April. It was great! I would love to do it again. The crew was awesome, the drinks were good and the day was perfect. I feel like I could have gone longer in the water, but it's hard to gauge time when you're not near a clock. There were a decent amount of passengers, but it didn't feel crowded.